Concentrator and amalgamator.



E. B. BENNETT. CONCENTRATOR AND AMALGAMATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. 1915.

Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

uun Innunun-nu I IN V EN TOR. 50st? .5 19511276! Z A T 'ORNE Y 1 1 TN ESSE5 STER P DENHHARDT Z QM! ERASTUS B. BENNETT, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

GONCENTRATOR AND AMALGAMATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

Application filed May 24, 1915. Serial No. 30,075.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERASTUS B. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Denver, State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Concentratorsand Amalgamators; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of my invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in combined concentrators andamalgamators for saving gold and other metals from ore, and theinvention has for its object the provision of a construction for rapidlyand effectively concentrating the ore and saving the valuable metalstherefrom.

While the invention is primarily intended for treating ore carrying goldand for saving the gold from the same, it is obvious that other metalsmay be likewise saved from the ore.

For a more detail explanation of my invention, reference is made to theaccompanying drawing in the following description.

In this drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation view of the invention,partially in section; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the Oresorting and feeding cylinder, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectionalview of one of the riffles employed.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawingby the same reference characters.

Let the numeral 5 designate a triangular shaped tank, with thehypotenuse side 6 of the triangle forming the bottom of the tank slopingdownwardly to the end or altitude side 7 of the triangle. This tank 5 issupported by means of a frame 8, upon which uprights 9 are secured andengage with the bottom of the tank. Uprights 10 are also secured to theframe 8, on opposite sides of the tank 5, the said uprights extendingslightly above the upper edge of the tank, and having rollers 13journaled in j ournaled boxes 14:, secured to the upper extremities ofthe said uprights 10. There are two of these uprights 10 on each side ofthe tank 5, the two uprights of each pair being suitably spaced apart,and braced in their spaced apart relation by means of transverse members15. I

A hollow cylinder 16 is partially received in the tank 5, the saidcylinder 16 being provided with journal disks 17 secured to its oppositeextremities, which engage with the rollers 14 of the uprights 10, thesaid disks 17 being provided with annular grooves 18 therein whichreceive the rollers 14, thereby holding the cylinder 16 againstlongitudinal movement or against displacement. This cylinder is arrangednear the rear extremity of the tank 5, and is what I will term thesorting and feeding chamber. One end of the sorting and feeding cylinder16 is provided with a funnel-shaped opening 19, the said opening beingenlarged as it extends into the cylinder, whereby the ore is spread outas it passes into said cylinder.

This opening 19 extends through the journal disk 17. The longitudinalsurface of the sorting and feeding cylinder 16 is composed of meshmaterial, sufliciently fine to permit the sand, or metal carryingmaterial to pass therethrough, while the coarse and waste material isprevented from passing through said screen, but is caused to passthrough said cylinder and pass out of the latter at the oppositeextremity thereof through an opening 20. A partition 21 is arrangedwithin the cylinder 16 intermediate its inlet and outlet for the coarseor waste materials. This partition has an opening therein so that whenthe cylinder is revolved in the process of screening its contents, onevery revolution thereof a portion of the waste materials will passthrough said opening to the opposite side of the partition. In order todirect this material to the outlet opening 20, there is arranged a scoopshaped plate 23 which as the cylinder rotates will positively deliverthis waste or coarse material on to the inclined wall 22 and ultimatelyto the opening 20. It will be noticed that the material forming thepartition 21 extends through the opening 20, and on the exterior of saidopening, the said material is flared outwardly in funnel-shape.

A sprocket wheel 24 is formed integral with one of the journal disks 17,and, over which a sprocket chain 25, passes, the said sprocket chain 25also passing around a sprocket wheel 26, which is mounted upon the powershaft 27 This power shaft 27 is journaled on the frame 8, as shown at28, in the same vertical plane of the axis of the cylinder 16. Byoperation of the power shaft 27, power is transmitted to the cylinder16, through the sprocket chain 26, causing the said cylinder to revolveand sift the metal carrying material through the mesh into the tank 5.

The tank 5 is filled with water, the latter being constantly supplied tosaid tank, and the cylinder 16 is partially submerged in the water,whereby the ore in the cylinder 16 is washed during the revolving of thelatter, thereby freeing the fine material and washing the latter out ofthe cylinder into the tank.

The inclined bottom 6 of'the tank 5 is provided with a lining of amalgamplates 29, secured to the tank as shown at 30. The upper, or rearextremities of each of these plates is turned upwardly at an angle, asshown at 31, while the lower, or forward extremities of said plates arecurved to form a segment of a circle, as shown at 32, said curved partsof said plates forming mercury retaining receptacles. The lowerextremities of the amalgam plates over-lap the upwardly extending parts31 of the succeeding plates, as shown at 33. A water carrying pipe 34 isdisposed above each of the mercury retaining receptacles 32, said pipesbeing provided with longitudinal openings 35 disposed in such a manneras to cause the water to be discharged through said openings in aforward direction at an angle to the vertical 7 plane. The openings 35are relatively narrow, causing the water to be discharged therethroughin a thin sheet, thereby dissipating the material collected in thereceptacles 32 and preventing said material from packing therein. Thesewater carrying pipes 34 are all connected with a feed pipe'36, throughwhich water is supplied to the pipes 34. As the concentrates :pass outof the cylinder 16, they pass over these amalgam plates 29 and throughthe receptacles 32, the gold being collected on the amalgam plates andin the said receptacles. At the lower corner of the triangular tank, alongitudinal opening 36 is provided for the water and material to passout of the tank and over additional amalgam plates, or other treatingapparatus 38.

The tank 5 is provided with a partition 39 therein, near the altitudeend of the tri angular tank, forming a water pressure chamber betweensaid end and said partition, the said chamber being designated 40. Alongitudinal opening 41 is provided at the lower ed e of said artition39 which 0 ening is controlled by a vertically adjustable gate 42 toregulate or vary the size of the said opening. l Vaste cocks '43 are setin the altitude end of the triangular tank 5 at diflerent elevations,whereby the water level in the chamber 40 maybe varied by opening andclosing said waste cocks. The partition 39 serves to hold suiiicientquantity of water in reserveto fill the tank 5 to the top of saidpartition, the surplus water flowing over the upper edge of saidpartition into the chamber 40, and, of course, will fill the chamber 40when all of the waste cocks 43 are closed. By opening any desired wastecook 43, the water in the chamber 40 will be lowered to the level ofsaid opened waste cock, according diminishing the pressure in variedwithout departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is: 7

1. An ore treating machine, comprising a triangular shaped tank, thehypotenuse side of which is inclined and forms the bottom of said tank,means in said tank in relation to said inclined bottom for treating-ore,a partition in said'tank adjacentto the altitude side of the latterforming a compart ment in said tank between said partition and thealtitude wall, said partition having an opening therein below its bottomedge estab lishing communication between said tank and said compartment,the altitude side of said'tank also having an opening therein at thebottom of the tank, and the altitude side of said tankhaving means at"varying elevations for regulating the quantity of water contained insaid compartment, the said partition being of less height than the sidewalls of said tank.

2. A concentrator, comprising a water containmg tank, one end of saidtank being provided with a relatively narrow transverse opening adjacentthe bottom of said tank,

the bottom of said tank being downwardly inclined to saidopening, apartition in said tank of less height than the side walls of the tankforming a compartment therein between one end of said tank and saidpartition, said partition having an opening therein between its bottomedge and the bottom of'the tank establishing communication between saidtank and said compartment, means in said tank for treatin ore, means forfeeding ore to said tank, an means communicating with said compartmentat different elevations for regulating the volume of water adapted to becontained in said compartment.

ERASTUS B. BENNETT.

Witnesses PAULINE L. POWELL, J NO. G. POWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

